PESHAWAR: The Government is engaged in improving the deteriorating condition of roads in the tribal region to ensure connectivity and smooth movement for the locals, especially those in more remote areas. According to a press release issued by the FATA Secretariat, the Political Administration of Khyber Agency is committed to fulfilling the basic needs of local communities on a priority basis. In this connection, the Political Administration has constructed a two kilometer link road for the community of Walay kelli in China area of Bazaar Zekha Khel. The Political Administration has also prioritized the rehabilitation of important link roads in Dargai area of Bazaar Zakha Khel by carrying out rehabilitation work on two roads that had suffered damages due to floods. The Frontier Post.
PESHAWAR: Tribesmen from South and North Waziristan agencies on Monday staged a protest demonstration at Sher Shah Suri Road against the drone attacks and asked the government to stop supporting the US-led war on terror. Holding banners and portraits of the victims of drone attacks, they shouted slogans against the government for failing to press US to stop attacks on innocent people in Fata. JUI-S Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amir Maulana Yousaf, who led the protesters, said drone attacks were against the human rights and international law, lamenting that the government was unable to save lives of innocent tribal people. Dawn, The News.
PESHAWAR: Different civil society organisations of Fata have demanded of the government to give proper representation to tribal women in parliament and provincial assemblies. They also called for proactive steps for provision of adequate facilities to internally displaced people of the tribal regions. Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday, the coordinator of Civil Society Network Ghani-ur-Rehman Afridi said the government had amended Frontier Regulations Act in 2011 but the changes were not enough to mitigate the suffering of tribal people. “We welcome the amendments in the black laws,” he said and added still the tribal people were not fully benefited due to weak implementation of the amendments in the presence of existing political system. Dawn.
MIAMI: An elderly Muslim cleric in the US was convicted on Monday of funnelling thousands of dollars to support the Pakistani Taliban. Hafiz Khan, the 77-year-old imam at a Miami mosque, was found guilty of two conspiracy counts and two counts of providing material support to Taliban. Each charge carries a potential 15-year prison sentence. Prosecutors built their case largely around hundreds of FBI recordings of conversations in which Hafiz Khan expressed support for Taliban attacks and discussed sending about $50,000 to Pakistan. There were also recordings in which Khan appeared to back the overthrow of the Pakistan government in favour of Islamic law, praised the killing of American military personnel and praised the failed 2010 attempt to detonate a bomb in New York’s Times Square. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: The Fata Secretariat is going to prepare a feasibility report for setting up a bank to facilitate the people of tribal areas in availing investment opportunities. The establishment of a financial institution of Fata was in the offing and a contract to prepare feasibility report was awarded to a firm on Monday, said a handout issued by Fata Secretariat. In this connection, a ceremony was held at Fata Secretariat to sign a contract between Fata Investment Facilitation Authority (FIFA) and Grand Thornton, a consultancy firm, for conducting the feasibility study for establishment of Fata bank. Dawn, The Frontier Post.
PESHAWAR: Jamaat-i-Islami, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amir Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khan has said recent meetings of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman with US ambassador and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor will spoil the efforts for restoration of peace in the region. Speaking at a press conference at Al-Markaz-i-Islami here on Monday, the JI leader said meeting of JUI amir with the US envoy was violation of the resolutions adopted unanimously in the all parties conference held in Islamabad on Feb 28. Dawn, The News, The Frontier Post.
PESHAWAR: Around 7,41,788 children under the age of five years would be administered anti-polio drops in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) during the three-day polio eradication campaign that kicked off on Monday.The inauguration ceremony was held at the Fata Secretariat and chaired by Dr Aftab Akbar Durrani. The participants were informed that 2317 mobile teams, 605 areas in charge, 76 transit teams and 232 fixed sites teams had been deputed to vaccinate 7,41,788 children under the age of five years in various regions of the Fata. The News.
GHALLANAI: Two mobile shops were blown up in the Halimzai tehsil of the Mohmand Agency on Saturday night, sources said.The sources said explosive devices planted by unidentified persons at Mian Mandi Market went off at night. Two shops owned by Israr and Adnan were destroyed in the explosion. The blast was a powerful one and heard far and wide.Following the explosion, the security forces reached the spot and cordoned off the area to arrest the accused but there was no report about any arrest. The News.
KHAR: There was no loss of life in a roadside blast in the Mamond tehsil of the Bajaur Agency on Sunday, sources said.They said unidentified persons had planted explosive device on the roadside in Damadola which went off without causing any human loss.The officials of the political administration reached the spot soon after the incident and collected the pieces of evidence. The News.
KABUL: NATO expects a decision by the middle of this year on the size of a training force to be kept in Afghanistan once most foreign troops leave in 2014, alliance Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday. The Pentagon has said a NATO-led training force of between 8,000 and 12,000 was under consideration. Questions remain over how well Afghan security forces being built up by NATO will be able to tackle Islamist Taliban insurgents in the face of intensifying violence and how Western states can justify financial support for a force that has been saddled with accusations of torture by the United Nations. Daily Times.
WASHINGTON: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has blamed failed US policies for the rise in terrorism in South Asia. In an article he wrote for the Foreign Policy magazine, the former military ruler said the Americans made the first blunder in 1989 when they abandoned Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal and distanced themselves from Pakistan. “To add insult to injury, the US also developed strategic relations with India,” slapping Pakistan with sanctions, he wrote. The second US blunder, according to the retired general, was to isolate the Taliban even though they ran most of Afghanistan. Dawn.
FRC REPORT
BAJAUR AGENCY: A Pro-government tribal elder of Mamond tribe and senior leader of ANP local chapter Malik Gul Zada escaped un hurt when explosive device planted by unidentified suspected militants exploded in Damadola area of Mamond tehsil in Bajaur agency on Monday. An official of the local administration said that unidentified person had planted explosive device at Inayat killay Damadola road 13Km from Khar which went off without causing any loses. Just after the blast the local and official of political administration reached the site and cordoned off the area. An official of the administration said that the main target of the explosion was a pro government tribal elder and senior leader of ANP Bajaur, Malik Haji Gul Zada.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHARY